Communication (Notes from Coach K)

The latest MasterClass shares recently retired Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on leadership.

Here are notes from his lecture on communication:

"Communication has to be taught...verbally and in other ways."

"Communication...is the lifeblood of the team." 

"Unless you are talking, you do not bring everyone together." 

"Giving instruction while the activity is going on."

"If a player is not talking to a teammate...he is talking to himself... thinking...has to coordinate what he is doing with what we are doing." 

"You let other people in." 

Coach K takes input from staff during the game (as opposed to during timeouts). 

During staff meetings he often says, "what do you think?"

To players, "what do you hear me saying?" 

Use multiple techniques = analogies, stories, humor, self-effacing stuff

"Create an environment that's conducive to communication..."

"You have to be vulnerable...and transparent...not a heavy load all the time."

"What are the rules of your meeting? Are they thinking of what we're talking about?" NO PHONES. 

"Discipline means that you're going to get the most out of a situation you're in." 

"If you find yourself saying the same thing over and over and it's not being done...can you deliver it differently...it's not resonating." 

First practice, Shane Battier addressed the team unprompted. Coach K thought he couldn't do better. Coach asked him to talk before every practice. "You have to teach communication in your workplace...that was one of the reasons we won the whole thing."